Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 33
Go devoured everything in sight.
To fill its empty stomach, it swallowed whatever came its way.
Land soaked in poison, venomous plants spewing deadly toxins, poisonous creatures brimming with venom.
Even humans.
Go's innards, sparing nothing, gradually became tainted with poison.
It tried to endure with its unique adaptability and poison resistance.
But swallowing every poison in the flower garden had combined them into a synthetic toxin that tormented the creature.
Baek Seung-woo watched it all unfold quietly.
It was almost time.
'No matter how much real-time adaptation it has, gorging on hundreds of poisons can't be good for the body.'
Until just moments ago, Go had been lurking deep in the cave.
Warm sunlight and countless plants and animals.
And the deadly poisons they carriedthose must have provided an immense stimulus compared to anything it had encountered in its lifetime. A stimulus that surpassed its adaptation threshold.
Just how far would its adaptability manifest?
The poisons in its body had mixed into a potent compound toxin, various venoms ravaging its flesh and nerves.
In other words, if things continued like this, death might come faster than adaptation.
Yet Go didn't stop eating.
As if devouring all land and life were its true calling, it kept consuming.
With every bite, the types and quantity of toxins accumulating in its body grew.
Before long, the dungeon was filled with Go.
Too bloated to move easily, it finally halted its feast.
There wasn't much left to eat anyway.
Just three humans.
Excluding Baek Seung-woo, Iji, and the shadow lurking behind them, that is.
Whoosh!
Purple flames roared fiercely.
[Fox Fire burns fiercely.]
[Demon Eye pierces through Go's five viscera and six bowels.]
His red eyes tinted violet.
In the grayscale world, only Go's organs glimmered turquoise. Traces steeped in poison.
Whoosh!
Flames split into two strands, spiraling in resonance, amplifying their size and the insidious curses hidden within.
All over its body, where organs nestled.
They poured heat and curses onto the poisoned areas.
Kieeeek!
Go writhed in agony as its innards burned.
The scant remaining soil and weeds in the flower garden were swept away en masse.
Iji trembled at the destructive spectacle.
Was she recalling the academy incident from days ago?
Seung-woo glanced at her shaking handaxe and spoke.
"Flee to the left."
"Y-Yes?"
"There's nothing more you can do. Run. I'll handle the cleanup."
There was no need to keep Iji around anymore.
The reason he'd brought her along was to avoid her getting caught in unnecessary trouble.
Now, just being near him was dangerous.
So running was the best course.
"B-But, Teacher... How are you going to kill that thing alone?"
"That's why we entered this dungeon, right? I've got a plan."
"Even so...!"
"You forget who I am?"
A freshman TA shrouded in rumors at Chilseong Academy.
The hero who slew the academy terrorist's mastermind and saved numerous students.
At the same time, the nominal Family Head of the Heavenly Fox Baek Family, rife with scandals.
And
'the teacher who bestowed knowledge upon me.'
Secret techniques she could never have learned at Chilseong Academy, not even through one-on-one instruction.
He'd taught them generously and even refined Moon Dew Flower into an elixir just for her.
"So don't worry and just go."
Yeah, Teacher wasn't someone for the likes of her to fret over.
In this situation, she was the hindrance.
So all she could do was run.
Just as Teacher saidrunning was the only way she could help him now.
"Teacher!"
"What?"
"Next time! Next time, I'll definitely be of help!"
"...Yeah. Train hard."
"Then, Teacher."
Iji bowed deeply.
Infusing it with all the respect she could muster, she spoke politely.
"I'll greet you properly back at the academy next time!"
With those words, she bolted without waiting for a reply.
Seung-woo watched her retreating figure before turning his gaze to where Go lay.
Writhing in pain as its own organs burned.
The burns from the flames hadn't yet reached its threshold, it seemed.
Scorch marks spread across organs and flesh.
The moment had finally arrived.
Seung-woo judged this the perfect instant to hunt.
He immediately channeled mana to combine magic and skills.
The end of this dungeon was near.
* * *
Go, thrashing in pain, smashed everything around it.
Its wild legs pulverized the parched earth, barring my approach.
Ranged attacks were my only option.
'End it before it adapts to the burns.'
A monster that adapts once a stimulus surpasses its threshold, no matter the impact.
At first glance, no weaknessesbut luckily, I knew its Achilles' heel.
It tied directly to its strength.
Kill it before it can adapt.
Before it even processes the minimum reaction threshold, overwhelm it with intense stimulus and end it.
Kraaa!
Its cries grew as massive and imposing as its mountain-like bulk.
A roar that instilled primal fearFear.
Clumsily mimicking the higher hierarchy's symbol, it was trying to ascend.
Kill it now.
Fox Fire
[Pyrokinesis]
Physical force augmented the cursed flames.
Purple flames, thick as fog across the area, enveloped Go in an instant, scorching its exoskeleton all at once.
Kieeeek!!!
Go's exoskeletonits cuticlewas incredibly tough and resilient.
Impervious even to deadly venom, but regrettably, it had no fire resistance.
[Fox Fire blazes fiercely.]
[Flame demon engulfs the surroundings!]
[Myriad sinister curses engrave deeply into its body!]
The holes pierced through its five viscera and six bowels by Heat Sun Paper.
Flames targeted those relentlessly, burrowing into the flesh to cook it from within.
No matter its adaptation trait, the agony of roasting innards couldn't be endured.
Go collapsed, unable to adapt to the burns.
Thud!
Its colossal body toppled limply onto the dead earth.
[Hidden boss monster, 'Solitary Gu Centipede', defeated.]
[Dungeon 'Efnel's Flower Garden' cleared.]
[Dungeon will auto-close in 10 minutes.]
Messages filled his retina.
But this was just the beginning.
[Sub quest, 'Solitude Hunt', cleared.]
[Rewards granted.]
[Skill 'Ten Poisons Immunity' acquired.]
[Knowledge on 'Solitude' granted as a scroll.]
[Points +3 acquired.]
Hunting Go yielded a flurry of rewards.
A skill granting poison resistance and a scroll of ancient knowledge.
And points, whose use he still didn't know.
For a mere D-rank dungeon clear, it was lavish.
Ordinary players would rejoice at this alone.
But not him.
Whoosh. He wrapped Heat Sun Paper around his fingers and approached Go.
The dead beast spewed potent solitude toxin from its maw and ruptured innards.
Without the freshly acquired Ten Poisons Immunity, even approaching might have infected him with deadly poison.
Toxins of that intensity.
Undeterred, he placed a hand on Go's exoskeleton.
Slice. Severing the core of its viscera revealed pinkish organs.
Fragments of organs not fully matured.
This was what he'd sought.
"Bon apptit."
He chewed the organ without hesitation.
Crunch. A big bite unleashed blood, flesh, and deadly venom inside his mouth.
The more he chewed, the more his jaw numbed, so he swallowed the rest whole.
[Ingested Go's immature organ.]
[Five viscera and six bowels tainted by deadly poison!]
[Ten Poisons Immunity expels the toxins!]
...
......
[Organ fully cleansed of toxins adapts to the body in a new form.]
[Acquired an unprecedented immune system!]
[Skill 'Weak Body Resistance Physique' acquired.]
He'd finally obtained it.
This was the hidden piece concealed in Efnel's Flower Garden, the one he'd craved.
Weak Body Resistance Physique ()
Rank: F+
Description: Traces of a new organ created by the Gu, steeped in hundreds of poisons, to produce real-time antibodies. Not tied to specific viscera, animal groups, or concepts. Adapts to any organism's form and evolves upon receiving stimuli beyond its threshold.
*Adaptability
Once feeble flesh receives stimulus exceeding a certain level, it adapts based on that 'threshold'.
A skill granting resistance to a frail body.
But there was one peculiarity.
The skill's rank had a '+' mark.
This wasn't odd or erroneous.
In skills, '+' held special meaning.
It meant growth.
'A growth-type skill. One that evolves tailored to methe ultimate skill every player dreams of.'
Weak Body Resistance Physique evolves to a new stage upon surpassing its threshold with specific stimuli, generating optimized skills.
Perfectly suited to him.
[Discovered hidden piece 'Weak Body Resistance Physique'!]
[Points +5 acquired.]
The thrill of obtaining his desire was short-lived.
New messages flooded his vision.
He tried to dismiss them, but their content demanded attention.
'What the hell are points?'
He'd accumulated points from quests and rewards so far.
Yet he still had no clue what they were.
Nam Hwa-yeon didn't know, nor did anything from Eve's mentions ring a bell.
Something hidden, perhaps.
But what? No idea.
'Handle cleanup first, think later.'
Poison boiled in the heat-charred air.
Toxins drifted like smoke, saturating the area.
An environment lethal to ordinary life.
But it meant nothing to him with Ten Poisons Immunity or the shadow, trained in assassination.
Iji was the only one absent.
He'd yelled at her to run, so she'd fled far by now.
"Just the two of us left now."
"...You knew I was here."
"Of course."
"...Since when?"
"Around when you slipped out of the mansion and took a taxi."
"Essentially from the start."
The man scratched his head.
Evidently proud of his stealth.
Unfortunately, stealth was pointless against him.
Not with his heightened senses, Demon Eye, and battle-hardened experience.
Demon Eye
No need to explain fullyhe simply tinted his eyes purple.
That alone sufficed as answer.
"A demonic eye, huh."
Players who weaponized their bodies prized ocular demonic eyes as efficient tools.
The world held as many variants as there were players.
But he'd never seen one so beautifully radiant.
Amethyst eyes emitting violet light.
They mesmerized with innate magic.
Like jewel eyes appraising foes with prismatic glow.
"That's how."
"Think what you want."
"Gouge those eyes out and present them to Hershe'd love that."
Damn, brutal words.
Not mere intimidation. His eyes told the truth.
He genuinely planned to pluck them and deliver to this 'Her'.
Why were all his foes lunatics?
Today's fight wouldn't be easy.
To buy time and memorize the man's subtle movements and stance, he spoke up.
"Hey, what should I call you?"
"Anything. Names don't matter."
"Alright then"
A sneer curled his lips.
A smile implying, how could someone be like that?
"Il-yeong."
"!!!"
Naming his codename startled him; shock seeped through the mask.
How much, indeed.
Il-yeong glared fiercely, demanding how he knewbut Seung-woo teased to stall.
"How's a person named Il-yeong? Shim Yeong, maybe I'd buy."
"......"
He'd tossed it to provoke a reaction.
Oddly, none came.
No response even to mocking his name. Enhanced ocular power scanned for micro-movements.
Hard to see under the mask, but Il-yeong was frowning.
As if he didn't grasp the meaning.
"Huh?"
What? No way.
No Shim Yeong in this world?
Now he got it.
Il-yeong wasn't ignoring himhe couldn't react.
Didn't understand the reference.
Embarrassed by the unforeseen wrinkle, he scratched his headthen a brilliant idea struck.
Fine. If this world lacked Shim Yeong,
'I'll make one.'
His gaze locked on Il-yeong's lower abdomen.
In his vision, Il-yeong recoiled from some inexplicable killing intent.